The five of us have been celebrating our birthdays together ever since we were old enough to venture out of our homes on our own (do you remember how big a deal it was when we could meet with friends outside of school without our parents/siblings accompanying us?). Not including the couples of years when I was in India of course. But this tradition has been going strong for ten years. So have our friendships. 

Kelly reminded us of the times we walked to the bus stop together from the old spot where our primary school was situated. We were only ten then. Aizhen had the thickest, gawkiest spectacles ever and Sheena was too tall and fair for her age. Elycia was the rebel among us and Kelly, the smartest one. And I am remembered for my default hairstyle of two pigtails. 

What I would give to step back into the good old days, really. 

The present doesn't seem so bad either, especially when we know that nothing has changed between us.

We celebrated Aizhen's twenty-first birthday a couple of days before the actual one. Our staycation-converted-birthday-party was a sweet success. There's something fuzzy about a small, cozy party with your closest mates and people you want to grow old with. This is what I call a celebration and is probably one of the more meaningful ones out there.

So after checking into our room at Festive Hotel, Resorts World Sentosa, we clamoured to check things off of our to-do list (this always gives me great satisfaction!): present, cards, decorations, balloons, cake, food, and more cake.

There wasn't really any element of surprise when Aizhen knocked on the door of the hotel room. Kelly whispered, albeit extremely loudly, "She's here!!!" And of course we ended up in peals of laughter at our failure of a surprise... 

The night saw us devouring the pleasantly light and fluffy fruit flan, digging hungrily (we actually beef noodles a couple of hours before that...) into the salad and chicken bits that Sheena graciously helped us deconstruct. The tarts that Kelly brought back were delicious, and the sushi we bought were spot-on. All that or perhaps we are just greedy, hungry monsters in the form of five girls.

Eleven years on and I'm still very thankful for the ups and downs we've gone through and for these pillars of support that have always been here.